Decima: Two Hold - Chapter 20 - A'mara Books

20

(Tharnday, cont.)

Tranas City Surveillance

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“Two abáris, one from Irola, one from Narcía,” the lady greeted them when the door opened at the city surveillance office. “Together, but not… confusing.”

“And your skills are totally wasted here!” Fain charmed. He read her name tag. “Suletu? Pretty name.”

“Thanks. Are abáris allowed to marry and such?” she asked. “Seems like a conflict of interest.”

Varice cleared her throat with a degree of annoyance that made Fain feel mischievous.

“Whereas Varice is only abári of Tranas, I’m Fain Kulun, abári of Terrenden, so I can go where I like… almost. Of course, the fact that the Empress wants my head could be an issue!” Fain explained. “But that won’t be an issue tonight, will it, my lovely Varice?”

He could see her fight the blush off her face which made him laugh all the more. She brought out the playfulness in him – a side of him he hadn’t seen in a long time. It felt good.

“I’m sure you didn’t come here to make me wish I had a boyfriend,” the woman broke in. “What did you want?”

“We need to see yesterday’s surveillance from outside the hospital from the afternoon until the evening,” Varice said, casting a playful glare at him.

“Sure,” Suletu replied, turning back to the HPS displays all over her wall. She selected the cameras in question. “Do you know how this works?”

“Enough,” Varice replied and sat. She performed the same trick she had just a few minutes before.

“Wow!” the woman exclaimed, watching the footage leap to the screen.

“You’d be welcome to train with us,” Varice offered.

“No thanks. I want to live.”

Varice shrugged. “Take a look, Fain.”

He put his hands on her shoulders, massaging her tension as she found the same odd couple leaving the zip-lift, but now, Kélé was sitting like a healthy woman, the color returned to her face.

He kept talking to her though.

“Do we have any sound?” Fain asked.

“I’ll try to boost it,” the woman offered, quickly flipping switches and levers.

“Where you taking me?” Kélé asked in the slightly slurred speech of someone intoxicated.

“You will see when we get there. I want to surprise you!” the man replied in a sing-song voice.

“They sound totally normal,” Suletu commented.

“They want everyone to know they are totally normal,” Varice agreed. “Except that the baby she carries belongs to your counterpart in the hospital!”

“She was kidnapped yesterday,” Fain added. “They said she died – so no one will look for her. But we know better.”

“Where is he taking her?”

“That’s the part that’s still a mystery to us. Can you show us the docks? Anywhere that might have taken someone off the island last night?”

“Sure. You don’t think they’re still on Tranas?”

“No,” Fain said with certainty. “At least, she’s not. He may be… probably is… waiting for someone else to steal.” He looked at Varice again and understood Hergil’s hesitation. He didn’t want to let her go. Not now. He wanted to be with her tonight, and every night thereafter. He was in deep – and he didn’t want rescue.

♥

Anney was so beautiful as she played with Syr, Hergil realized again. The walk to the park was already proving a great idea. Thankfully, they had the stroller for Syr to sleep in on the way back after they wore him out.

The guys from Irola went with them, though they seemed to tire quickly and returned to being more agitated.

“We didn’t come to play in the park!” Darrey complained. “We should be with the abári wherever he is.”

“They,” Hergil corrected. “The abáris went together after breakfast.”

“Have you put a tracer on her yet, mate?” Kimmel asked, nodding his head towards Anney.

“Only a basic one. I don’t know how to program a better one.”

“Good thing Seyth’s here then, mate! He does all our high tech stuff for T.R.A.S.H!” Kimmel looked over at the other man. “You’ll build them a good tracer, won’t you, Seyth?”

“Of course. For a fee, of course!” Seyth jested.

“Anything. I won’t lose her again!” Hergil insisted.

“Better you than me!” Seyth replied.

“Why so cynical?” Hergil asked.

“It might have something to do with Svínna, mate,” Kimmel said, laughing.

“She’s a little mad at me,” Seyth replied.

“Something to do with not making her pregnant, I seem to remember!” Darrey said, laughing as well.

“There seems to have been a lot of ‘accidents’ at T.R.A.S.H. recently, if you don’t mind my observing,” Hergil said.

“Define accident, mate,” Kimmel challenged.

“Maybe it’s purely coincidence, but you seem to have a lot of pregnant girls there for such a small organization.”

“That would be Thorsa and her Petal Bed Plus, mate!” Kimmel reminded. “Removes inhibitions, you probably remember. Makes you forget things that can delay little accidents, if you catch my drift.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong guys, but the way Kjane was talking about it, there was only a single incident with the Petal Bed Plus – after which, Thorsa was kicked out. What you’re talking about sounds much bigger,” Hergil said.

“Thorsa wasn’t kicked out until she bedded Kjane!” Darrey corrected. “He needed it too!”

“But Thorsa is the enemy,” Hergil said. “What if the infiltration was deeper than that? What if they also tampered with any means you might have had to prevent accidents of the pregnant kind? What if the Empress and her cronies were simply trying to make T.R.A.S.H. so preoccupied with each other and the things you have to do for daily life that you could no longer be a thorn in her side?”

“That’s brilliant, mate!” Kimmel complimented. “I wish I’d come up with a plan like that!”

Hergil’s smile waned. “I wouldn’t put it past the Empress though. If she’s into kidnapping pregnant women, why not make sure that your worst enemies have a little baby boom of their own? You make up a little virus to hide your dirty work and voilà!”

“Add in a large dose of fear to make everyone behave in such a way as to not get in your way...” Darrey added. “It’s brilliant!”

“Yeah… it is..,” Hergil said before looking around suddenly, almost in a panic… until he found Anney still playing with Syr. “I think it’s time to go back. I prefer to have them at the retreat where I can keep an eye on them!”

“Lock and key, mate,” Kimmel said pointedly.

“You would if it was Euli we were talking about,” Hergil reminded.

“No. Actually, I don’t think I would, mate. I trust her.”

“So much that you kicked her out of T.R.A.S.H.”

“Truce, mate,” Kimmel said, offering his hand.

“Accepted. We live in strange times, my friend. They sometimes require strange solutions…” He thought of Anney’s insistence at conceiving a child with him. He also thought of his own father and Varice, wondering if a half-sibling would be born shortly after his own child.